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Executive Summary

Southeast Asia contains some of the world’s busiest and most strategic chokepoints for maritime commerce, making it a sub-region of global strategic interest. Yet the vital energy shipments through the region are subject to potential disruption caused by maritime safety challenges, legal-passage regimes, piracy and terrorism, and inter-state conflict. In addition, potential counter-trends could transform the prevailing eastward flow of energy from the Gulf, via Southeast Asia, to the major East Asian importing countries. Nonetheless, Euan Graham argues, the security of maritime shipments in Southeast Asia and its extended region is surprisingly robust, while the energy trade itself is evolving dynamically in response to shifting patterns of supply and demand.